A simple rule of life
by Hanyuchick
Summary: Cordelia reminds Doyle of a simple fact of life. Cordelia Chase gets what Cordelia Chase wants. Obstacles will be demolished. Not even exwives stand in her way for very long.
1. Sighs

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters, just this cute little plot.

This is set in the first and best season. No episode in particular has been chosen. It is set between Bachelor Party and Heroes. Only the actual bachelor party hasn't happened yet just the divorce.

Cordelia looked up from her desk to see Doyle sitting on the couch asleep. He looked so peaceful when he was asleep. The sight of his thick curly black hair framing his naturally pale yet handsome face made her sigh. When Cordy had said she needed a man she hadn't meant to fall in love with Doyle. He was a fixer-upper all right; a borderline alcoholic with a dress sense that would generally send her running for the hills. Still Doyle was a hell of a lot more grown up than Xander could ever be. Alan Francis Doyle was all man. Cordy had cleaned wounds on his chest before and he was, for lack of a better word, yummy. Who knew Doyle was all lean and toned under those icky clothes?

She sighed again before turning back to her work. The Dark Avenger had already gone to bed and Cordy was finishing up invoices. She was experimenting with a new mint green paper. It was supposed to make people subconsciously think of money. It was Doyle's idea and she had to admit that it did sound pretty good. Maybe more people will pay their bills. It just reminded her of that emerald green dress that she wore to Homecoming, the one that survived a demon attack. It remains one of her favorite dresses and was currently hanging in her closet begging to be worn.

Invoices finished for the month, Cordelia put away the papers for the night. She contemplated waking up Doyle so he could walk her home, she felt safe when she was with him. Cordy stood in front of the sleeping man and lightly brushed a lock of hair off of his forehead. Her hand followed the side of his face and down his neck to rest on his shoulder. The movement woke him and his sea blue eyes opened to see Cordelia standing in front of him. He smiled and she smiled in return.

"Hey, I was wondering if you could walk me home? It's dangerous to be outside alone in L.A. at night for a young woman."

"Course, Princess. Just let me get my jacket on and I'll take you home."

He realized that Cordelia's hand had been on his shoulder just a second ago. Doyle missed the touch, he enjoyed being close to the beautiful brunette. She backed up to give him room to stand up and put on his jacket. He hadn't counted on falling in love with anyone least of all with a spoiled brat like Cordelia. That didn't mean it surprised him though. Cordelia is resourceful, intelligent, strong, gentle and incredibly open-minded. As he told Angel when he'd met her, Delia is 'a real stiffener'. Her sarcastic and cynical humor made it clear that she was used to a slightly harsher side of life than either of her parents. From what Doyle had heard of them they weren't even there for her most of the time. Doyle knew that he had to be there for her now. He felt a need to be a knight for his princess.

"I hope it's not too late to talk." Harry, Doyle's ex-wife, stood in the doorway. Cordelia had hated the woman instantly and preferred Faith over her, which showed how much she hated Harriet. Cordy still felt the stab of betrayal when she found out that Doyle was married. He'd been nothing if not honorable while they had been separated and now it was over. The only reason she had for the feeling of betrayal is that she had fallen madly in love with the man. Sometimes it seemed as if Harriet didn't have any competition standing in her way if she decided that Doyle was a better catch than her new fiancée is. They may not have spoken hardly at all in five years but that didn't make Cordy any more confident.

"Actually I was about to walk Delia home. It is late and we're all tired. Maybe we can talk tomorrow, Harry." That Irish lilt washed over Cordelia with those reassuring words. She couldn't help the smug grin that slid over her face as she latched onto Doyle's arm and breezed by Harriet.

This will be a relatively short story with decent sized chapters. I decided to go ahead and write it because this story won't get out of my head. Hope you enjoyed it and remember all I need I one review to make me write another chapter.


	2. An eventful walk home

Disclaimer: I don't own the show. If I did own the show, Doyle would not have died.

Feedback: Thank you, darkraven10! I agree with you wholeheartedly. Please keep reviewing!

Doyle looked down at Cordy, who was currently smugly grinning at his ex-wife as if she were walking away with first prize in some competition. He put it down to the fact that Cordelia really didn't like Harry. Harry however was looking at Cordy as if she were a home wrecker. That made no sense at all. Harry was getting remarried next week and had asked for the divorce herself. Delia wasn't romantically involved with him at all. Shaking off these thoughts as Cordelia breezed by Harry with a firm grip on his arm, Doyle managed to escort both ladies out of the office.

"Now it's late ladies. Harry, I'll walk you to your car and Delia, I'll walk you home." Cordelia made an indignant noise but kept her vice-like grip on his arm. Doyle was sure that he was slowly losing circulation in that arm. He didn't really care though. It was Cordelia who hanging onto his arm for goodness sake!

Harry's gaze softened. She realized that Francis was just being his own protective self. L.A. was a dangerous city at night and he knew that Harry could protect herself. He was worried about his friend and coworker, Cordelia Chase. It seemed to Harriet that Cordelia had been a spoiled brat growing up, a prom queen in high school and was stumbling in the real world. Cordelia was probably still coming to terms with the fact that the things that go bump in the night are real. Harry was only slightly wrong.

They were standing on the street in front of Harry's car when a vampire attacked them. Cordy whipped a stake out of her purse and dusted the vampire in moments. Doyle, who had been holding the vampire still for her, blinked through the dust. Maybe Cordelia had already come to terms with the dark side being real. Harry was standing beside her now unlocked car in shock.

"Thanks for holding him for me Doyle. I guess today was one of my lucky days."

"Anytime, Princess." Doyle spoke wearing his unique half-smile, his Irish lilt soothing Cordelia's nerves.

"Lucky days? How long have you known about what goes bump in the night?" Harry incredulously asked Cordelia whilst shaking off her initial shock.

"Ever since I was sixteen and was kidnapped by The Master's cronies. That got me into this kind of life. Once you know certain things you can't go back again."

Harriet was staring at Cordelia, not believing that the brat had known about what went bump in the night for three years. She acted like she was still new to it. Alan Francis Doyle on the other hand didn't even blink an eye at the knowledge. He had opened the door for Harry and was motioning for her to get in her car. Harry slowly got in her car and thought almost absentmindedly that Francis looked rather handsome under the streetlight.

Doyle turned towards Cordelia and held out his arm. She took the proffered appendage and even laid her head on his shoulder for a split second. As they started to walk towards her apartment Doyle decided to ask Cordelia about The Master.

"You never said that you had been kidnapped."

"It's not exactly a fond experience, Doyle. Besides, why would I want to remember being chained up and hung from the ceiling when those creeps wanted to resurrect their vampire master?"

"They were going to sacrifice you weren't they?"

As Doyle spoke a hint of anger crept into his voice. A shiver went down Cordelia's spine. Oh yes, she was definitely going to have naughty dreams tonight. Dreams which starred her woefully sexy friend with an Irish accent would no doubt plague her all night long. Not that she minded those dreams or anything. Doyle noticed her shiver and slid off his worn leather jacket. He offered it to Cordelia, thinking she was merely cold.

"Yeah, they were. Not exactly the most impressive way to foray into the slaying side of life."

As far as Delia was concerned, the entire Sunnydale scene was old news and she did not want to talk about it. Doyle helped her put the jacket on and offered her his arm once more. They turned a corner and were right in front of her apartment building. That was when a demon decided to jump at them from out of nowhere. Cordy screamed and Doyle moved so that he was in front of her.

"You! You helped kill my master! You will die!" Its intent to kill Cordelia couldn't really get any clearer. Doyle had it dusted before the vampire took two steps. He could feel Cordelia's hands shaking as she tentatively touched his back. When he turned to face her Doyle saw true gratitude in her eyes. It looked like he'd managed to do something right for once. Delia stood on her tip toes and kissed his cheek after giving Doyle a quick hug.

"I guess they're still mad at me. Thanks for the save, Doyle."

"Anytime, Princess. Anytime."

That Irish lilt spoke of promise. A promise that Doyle hoped he would be able to fulfill. A promise that she knew he could fulfill. Cordelia merely smiled brilliantly at him as he wrapped an arm around her waist and led her into the building. Once they had gotten into the elevator Doyle thought that Cordy had recovered from the attack and wouldn't like his arm staying where it was for much longer. However, she started shaking again once the doors were closed. Doyle had no idea that she was shaking to keep from jumping him. When the doors opened on Cordelia's floor they stepped out of the elevator and a scantily clad woman started to walk toward them from the other side of the hall.

"Notorious man stealer ahead." Cordelia whispered to Doyle fervently hoping that he would get the gist and not even look at the skank. In response he merely tightened his grip around Cordelia.

"My, my, my. Who is this handsome stud?" The stranger was quite conspicuously eyeing Doyle up and down.

"Name's Doyle miss." Doyle gave her a very strained very fake smile. Cordy laid her head on his shoulder.

"He's just walking me home tonight, Veronica. So don't get any ideas." There was an implied threat in her voice which Veronica wisely chose to heed. She scampered back to her apartment and left them in peace. They walked the two feet to her door and stood in the doorway for a moment.

"Thanks for the backup, Doyle. As well as for saving my life tonight and walking me home when I asked you.""Always a pleasure, Delia. Goodnight, Cordelia. See you tomorrow."

"Good night, Doyle." Cordy kissed his cheek before closing the door. She had to. This jacket reeked of Doyle and Cordy was scared that she'd pin him against a wall. That was when Cordy realized that she was still wearing his jacket.

A/N It feels really weird to be writing Doyle as Francis. Harry's the only one to call him that too!


	3. Just another day Part 1

Disclaimer: All I own is this cute little plot.

A/N darkraven10, I just might finish this story quickly because of you. By the way, is it spelled Bracken or Brachen?

As Cordelia walked into the office wearing Doyle's jacket a green demon covered in blue spikes turned to look at her from its perch on the couch. Cordelia merely raised an eyebrow at him. She'd spent enough time going through Giles' books to know that the demon before her was a Bracken, a fairly benign species of demon. Despite the fact that this was the first time that Cordy had ever seen a Bracken demon she just held the worn leather jacket about her tighter.

Angel decided to walk out of the office as soon as Cordelia had sat down. He noticed that Cordy seemed to be covered in Doyle's scent. He looked up at her and noticed that she was wearing Doyle's jacket. Angel remembered Doyle telling him that he'd walked Cordy home and she had neglected to return the borrowed jacket. Maybe Doyle would stop sulking in his office long enough to say hi to Cordelia. Doyle was a tad upset at his father's sudden appearance at Angel Investigations.

"Cordy, why are you wearing Doyle's jacket?"

Angel already knew the answer; he just really liked playing clueless. The Bracken demon on the couch snapped his head up. Why hadn't he recognized his son's scent on the girl? Probably because he hasn't seen his son since the day he was born. He wondered if this girl knew about Alan being a half-demon. Judging from her reaction to himself, she probably did and was completely used to it. Either that or she was just really comfortable around demons; she did work for a vampire after all.

"It's warm, Mr. Broody pants. Now do we have a case this morning or not?" Cordy was definitely a sassy young woman. The Bracken saw the trait as being very attractive. He briefly wondered if his son had made his move yet.

"Mornin' Princess." Doyle walked out of Angel's office towards Cordy's desk and stood next to her. He smiled at Cordy as she started to get out papers and files. She was simply trying to distract herself from the wonderful man next to her.

"Good morning, Doyle. It's nice to see that you've lost the lapels." Cordy beamed her 100-watt smile at the Irishman. Doyle was wearing his one clean shirt left, which happened to be a fairly nice dress shirt. She then turned to Angel.

"You didn't answer my question, Angel. Do we have a case or not?" Then a strange scent began to waft through the air.

"Oh, what is that smell? It's awful!" Delia spoke whilst scrunching her nose and waving her hand in an effort to dissipate the offensive scent.

"Sorry, that's me. Hey, Cordy. How are you?" Xander Harris had walked in the door of the office and smiled at everyone except for the Bracken on the couch. Xander started to walk over to the Bracken on the couch, aiming his axe towards him. Both Doyle and his father widened their eyes.

"Harris, I'd appreciate it if you didn't behead our client. It's bad for business. Now, what the hell are you doing here?" Cordelia commanded the room with her simple elegant poise.

"Nice, Cordy, real nice. You're saving demons now too."

"Like you have any room to talk. Almost all of your girlfriends have been demonic in some way, shape or form."

"You weren't. You're right though, I don't have any room to talk."

"Did you just agree with me?" Cordy seemed to be slightly scared at this point.

"Yes." Xander on the other hand looked more annoyed than anything else.

"I think he's been possessed again." Cordelia hid behind Doyle as she spoke.

"Oh for…Cordelia I haven't been possessed, this week." He said this with his usual bravado except the last two words which were spoken quietly.

"Yeah, right. Do you remember Halloween, or maybe when you got possessed by that hyena? I'm not taking any chances with you."

"Cordy, you know damn well you have a taste for the demonic. You dated me, didn't ya?"

"Yes and I regret it every day. But not because of the demons or the slaying, I regret it because you cheated on me! Trust me Harris; the only thing I got from our relationship was being nearly dead and heartbroken!"

Doyle glared at Xander thinking him to be a fool. Why in the world would anyone want to cheat on Cordelia? He turned around to see Cordelia had sat down at her desk once more.

"My life is like a really bad soap opera." She started to arrange the files on her desk. She looked up at the Bracken on the couch when he coughed. Her face looked like it was slowly turning bright red.

"Angel, why don't you talk to the client in your office? So we know what we need to do."

Cordelia was trying to save what little of her dignity was left by throwing herself into her work; which left the room full of men who were still reeling from her rant. Xander was looking in shock at Cordelia, Doyle looked like he wanted to slowly dismember Xander, Angel and Doyle's father were looking upon the incident with slight amusement. Soon the front room emptied out to three occupants; Xander, Doyle, and Cordelia.

In Angel's office, he and the afore-mentioned Bracken demon were talking about what Angel Investigations needed to do this week. They didn't often get demon clientele but it was quickly circulating in demonic circles that there was a private investigations company that would be willing to service them in their time of need. As long as they weren't doing anything evil anyway.

"The reason why I came here is because I'm looking for my son. Alan Francis Doyle. Do you know him?"

Angel stared in shock; the guy was looking for his son, now after almost thirty years. Angel knew he was Doyle's father, hell he could smell it. Angel had in fact told Doyle that his father was the demon on the couch, that was why Doyle had been sulking prior to Cordelia's arrival. The Bracken however simply leaned back with a smile. He spoke with a faint Irish accent that told of his origin.

"He takes after me, I see. Facial structure and all that, Alan's clearly got his mother's eyes though. Certainly a handsome combination isn't it? I'm right proud of him I am. The boy's done more in his lifetime than I have. I can't really call him a boy anymore now can I? Alan is a full grown man after all."

"Doyle hates you. I hope you know that." Angel was over his shock and was playing the protective friend. Doyle was his best friend, a younger brother to him and a fellow Irishman at that.

"Well, he's got a right to I guess. I wasn't exactly there for him."

"Why weren't you there for him? I want the truth."

"Alright, I was seventeen years old and terrified of the very idea of becoming a father. Megan knew what I was and she was okay with it, but neither of us wanted to go through parenthood at such a young age. We thought that maybe after college if we were still together than we'd get married and have kids. We always used condoms, always. One of them didn't work, obviously, and Alan's the result of two naïve kids screwing around. I really should have done more than just pay for his education. I sent both Alan and Megan gifts every birthday and Christmas, let them know I haven't forgotten them. As he got older I started getting over my fear but by the time I felt brave enough to face him it seemed that a demonic father would do more harm than good."

"So you admit to being a coward?"

"Yep."

"You are quite possibly one of the strangest people I have ever met, and that's saying something."


	4. Just another day Part 2

Authors note: I'm so sorry that it took so long!!!!! But I'm here now!!! I'm alive!!!! Okay, yeah, I might be a little insane. I know that it's short but deal; I don't have much time on my hands on a regular basis.

Disclaimer: I don't own it. I'm simply borrowing the characters.

Cordelia, Xander, and Doyle were left alone in the outer room of the office, or so they thought. Suddenly a file floated up into the air as if it was picked up by an invisible hand. Then the file started hitting Xander over the head. The situation was quite comical to see. In fact, both Doyle and Cordy were laughing at the spectacle, together. Cordy was actually doubled-over and leaning on Doyle for support.

"Ouch! Marcie! I told you to wait in the truck!" Xander was yelling whilst being hit repeatedly with the thick file. Amazingly none of the papers had fallen out.

"Marcie? Marcie Hall?"

Cordelia stood up and looked about the room with a pensive yet excited look on her face. The file returned to its place on the desk and soon writing appeared on a notepad sitting nearby. Cordy looked at the single word that had been neatly printed upon the note.

"Present! That does sound like Marcie all right." Cordy spoke with evident joy on her face. The ghost hugged Cordelia tightly. It was clear that the two had been close friends and that those feelings of friendship continued after death.

"I don't mean to interrupt the happy reunion, but would you mind explaining why you're here." Doyle's Irish lilt jolted everyone back to the present reality. It also sent a chill down Delia's spine, she pulled Doyle's jacket tighter about her lithe form. Xander bluntly stated the reason why he was there.

"It's the apocalypse, or more accurately the ghost."

"Again! Who's trying to end the world this time?" Cordelia spoke with surprise yet exasperation. Doyle simply had a look of shock on his face. What did she mean, again?

"Yeah, that was pretty much my reaction too." Xander's response was rather nonchalant.

"This time, you've done this before?" Doyle couldn't believe that Delia had been through an apocalypse, or that she could be so blasé about it. The woman still gets grossed out by demon slime, for Pete's sake!

"Yeah, there's a bi-annual apocalypse in Sunnydale. Not to mention the high death rate. Why do you think I moved?" Cordelia spoke slightly cynically to Doyle. He returned her tone with a look that said 'Duh!'

"To become a movie star?" Delia simply smiled sweetly at him. Doyle had no idea how much Cordelia wanted to kiss him at that very moment.

"Anyway, the person who's trying to end the world would be Adam. He's a cyborg made from parts of demons, humans and machine. He's going to raise an army of demons and pretty much slaughter everyone who doesn't bow to him."

Xander got them back on track. He wanted to get back to Anya and fast. The Irish guy seemed a bit naïve but if Cordy trusted him then he was probably fine. It was something that Xander would never have noticed if he hadn't grown up on the Hell mouth, Doyle's eyes were haunted. That fact made Harris wonder just how much Doyle has seen of the dark side.

"A cyborg made of demon parts attempting to destroy the world, they're only in Sunnydale." Cordy spoke almost lazily. She was not the bit surprised at the information that Xander had presented to them.

"Who would make a cyborg out of demon body parts?"

Doyle asked curious and a little apprehensive. Hopefully whoever it was didn't want half-demons. Or he was in bigger trouble than he already was. And Doyle was always in some sort of trouble. He was getting better though.

"The Initiative; they're a government project run by Dr. Walsh. They experiment on demons, actually anything demonic or supernatural."

Xander spoke with tension in his voice. It was clear that he was not fond of the Initiative. He knew that if they had they slightest indication that Anya was more than the average human then she would have been taken. Harris couldn't have that, not after Oz got caged, not after what happened to Marcie.

"Wait a minute; you said something about a ghost." Doyle spoke remembering what Harris had said not even a full five minutes ago.

"Is it the same Dr. Maggie Walsh that killed Marcie?" Cordelia spoke tensely while staring angrily at her desk. If looks could kill, that desk would be dust or smoldering ash, whichever you prefer.

A word appeared on the notepad by Cordelia's hand. The word was 'yes' followed by several exclamation points and it seemed to simply infuriate Cordelia even further.

"Those bastards experimented on Marcie as if she were some kind of freaky cadaver. They operated on her without any painkillers or anesthesia."

Delia was clearly pissed off and Xander was shrinking back a little. Even Doyle had to admit that a pissed off Cordelia was a bit scary. This was coming from a guy with demon heritage. He himself was grinding his teeth at what she said. The ghost of Marcie was writing on the notepad again; however, she had changed the subject of conversation. **'Who's the hottie with an Irish lilt?'**

"Doyle"

Delia spoke tersely. Both men felt the shift of tension in the air. Cordelia's attitude switched from pissed off to slightly peeved. It threw Harris off a bit but Doyle stayed on the ball.

**'Yummy!'**

Cordy's eye started to twitch. Doyle thought it was annoyance, Xander recognized it for what it was. Harris took a couple of steps backward. Cordy was about to get very possessive. As Alexander Harris knew, Cordelia Chase was scary when she was possessive. However, Cordy surprised Harris once more. People were always underestimating her maturity.

"Marcie, you do realize that we are having a girl conversation in a room with two full grown men, don't you?"

Three letters appeared on the piece of paper. **'Yep!'** The exclamation mark was soon added as Doyle leaned over to read the neat printing.

"You do know that yep isn't even a word, don't you?"

Doyle directed this question at Marcie whom had decided to show herself. She was incorporeal, translucent and greys still the bright cheery young woman that she had been before her premature death. She was winking at handsome Irishman known as Doyle.

"Marcie, do you want me to avenge your death now or later." Marcie's response appeared on the notepad.

**'Adam already killed Walsh. The Slayer and the Scoobs will take care of the apocalypse, as per usual. I just kept interrupting Xander and Anya until one of them gave me the soul detachment spell. You should have seen his face; I've never seen anyone go redder!'**

"The ghost has been returned to her friend. I'm leaving." Xander yelled over his shoulder as he scampered out the door. He had never been so happy to get out of a room before.


	5. Just another day Part 3

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters.

A/N: Sorry it took so long but I have far too many projects going and I'm just trying to keep up at the moment. I hope that you enjoy this chapter and that you will leave me a review. I love them and it's really hard to write without them.

"Yeah, that was strange." Cordelia echoed Doyle's sentiments concerning Xander Harris's behavior. Cordy had a sudden and significant thought.

"Hey, Marcie, where are you going to be staying?"

The response appeared on the notepad, 'With you of course'

"Oh, no. Marcie, there's already a ghost in my apartment and I'm not sure how he'd feel about you staying there."

'Another ghost, what do you mean another ghost? He, it's a guy ghost? Cords, you've got some explaining to do.'

"Well, Marcie, I was about to explain. Dennis, the ghost, came with the apartment. He currently haunts the apartment that I'm living in. He's actually really nice."

'He doesn't sound so bad. Why are you worried?'

"Dennis is sensitive. Besides, ghosts can be pretty possessive about their haunts. Remember how possessive you were about the band room? You've hated Sunnydale High since you first set foot there."

'Oh, yeah. There might just be a problem after all.' There was a brief pause in Marcie's writing.

'I think that I should at least meet him though. I mean he is haunting the apartment that my best friend is living in.' Doyle felt lost in the conversation and decided to speak up.

"Ladies, I'd like some idea as to what's going on. There are a lot of big holes in this story." Cordelia cut him off and finished his sentence.

"And you'd like them to be filled?"

"That was my thought exactly."

'Which holes, cutie?'

Marcie was definitely flirting with Doyle. Cordy had staked her claim but Marcie felt like being difficult. The twitch had returned to Cordy's eye just in time for Angel and Axtius, Doyle's father, to come out of the inner office. Oh, were they confused! So was Doyle for that matter though he was much less confused than the other two men.

"Guys, what's going on?" Angel asked somewhat nervously.

"Oh, it's just Marcie."

Cordy said her statement in a rather offhand manner. She seemed to be a little busy holding a staring contest with the ghost at the moment though. Doyle sat on the couch. He deigned that his headache was coming to the fore and it getting worse by the minute.

"Marcie, as in the ghost Marcie Hall?" Angel was definitely nervous about having a ghost in the office, especially a known poltergeist.

'yeppers skeppers!' The response sounded like an eight year old who had eaten too much candy.

"Geez, who left you near the chocolate? Come on, Marcie. Let's at least try to be serious."

"Cordy, are you lecturing the ghost?"

"Yes. Do we have a name for the client yet?"

"Yeah, his name's Axtius."

"Great, I'll start a file."

Axtius looks around the room and decides that the couch is probably the safest place to be. As soon as Axtius sits down on one end of the couch Doyle gets up and sits on the edge of Cordy's desk. Doyle's somewhat discreet admiration of Cordelia's backside was interrupted by a vision. Immediately Delia turned around, concern covering her face. She grabbed the aspirin out of the desk and got one ready to hand to Doyle. Axtius's face was covered in a mixture of surprise and shock. The thought in his head was something akin to, 'What the hell?' He had no idea that Doyle received visions from the "Powers That Be". Harry didn't even know about it, granted the fact that she and Doyle hadn't spoken in about five years definitely had something to do with it.

Doyle quickly wrote down all the details that he knew about the emergency. Then he grabbed the aspirin and handed the note to Angel simultaneously. The much older Irishman quickly read the note and nodded when he had finished.

"Do you know when it's going to happen?"

"It's real soon, a few hours from now at the most."

Doyle quickly replied after he had dry swallowed the aspirin. He was about to attempt to wash it down with some liquor that he had stashed under Cordy's desk. Doyle got a lecture instead of the alcohol. Angel quickly made for the sewer exit. Marcie wondered into Angel's office and all ignored the Brachen demon sitting on the couch.

"Doyle! Drugs and alcohol are not a happy mix! You can have one or the other but not both. You could O.D. and I'd prefer not to lose another friend that way."

"You had a friend that overdosed?"

"Yeah, back in eighth grade. She used to get really bad migraines. One day she took too many painkillers."

"What was her name?" This came from Axtius, whom they had forgotten was still in the room. Marcie, who had been oddly quiet despite being in the next room, wrote down a name on the notepad. It was 'Charlotte Moore'.

"I need to stop spilling all the secrets of my life when there are strangers in the room."

"I'll come back later." Axtius quickly said to diffuse the suddenly tense room. His son was glaring daggers at him and the ghost had picked up a thick file. The full Brachen demon beat a hasty retreat down the sewer exit. Doyle turned his attention back to Cordelia.

"Cheer up, Princess." Cordy merely gave Doyle a look.

"Tell you what, Delia. I'll buy you lunch today. I'll even help you introduce your two ghost friends to each other." That last one was a little dangerous. Both ghosts were known poltergeists. Doyle was rewarded by Delia's radiant smile as her whole face lit up.

"Let's introduce the ghosts first."

She grabbed Doyle's arm and called for Marcie to follow them to her car. Fifteen minutes later they had arrived at Cordy's apartment. The living members of the trio were rather nervous about it. Marcie simply walked through the door. Cordy quickly entered her apartment with Doyle on her heels.

"Dennis meet Marcie."


	6. Introductions

Disclaimer: I don't own it.

A/N: Okay, my schedule's getting a bit hectic but I'm going to try to finish this story quickly. Or at least not make you wait for a year. That being said, I'm probably going to update as many stories as I can so I can get them finished. So an updating frenzy is imminent. I've made this story a lot longer than it needed to be so I'm cutting out a couple of chapters worth of unnecessary space filler; so probably three or more chapters after this one.

Feedback: Yes, please! Suggestions are welcome!

"Okay, we introduced them. Let's go!" Cordelia spun 360 degrees and headed for the door. She would have made the two feet if Doyle hadn't grabbed her arm effectively halting her progress.

"Now wait, Delia. That wasn't a proper introduction and you know it."

"Yeah, but I don't want to be here if they get in a fight."

"Good point, you're still introducing them first. Then we'll go to lunch."

"Oh, all right. Dennis, this is my dead best friend, Marcie. Marcie, this is my ghostly roommate, Dennis."

"That's better."

"Have fun; try not to break anything while I'm gone." At this point, Doyle slipped his grip on Cordy's arm but only enough for his hand to reach hers. He looked down at Cordy's face with a smile lighting up his own face.

"Ready for lunch, princess?" Cordelia, partially hypnotized by the fact that Doyle was actually holding her hand, merely nodded. She turned her head to give the ghosts a warning.

"Okay, have fun you two and try not to wreak the apartment while I'm gone."

The ghosts were silent while Cordy left with Doyle to go eat lunch. Doyle was taking Cordy out to a nice new café. It was a little out of his budget but Delia was well worth it. Luckily the cab ride wasn't very much; Doyle was going to need all his money where he was going.

"A La Carte? A bit pricey don't you think?"

"It'll be fine, Princess. Just follow me." She did follow him into the building and right up to the podium where the maître d was standing. The obnoxious head waiter looked them up and down and sneered at them.

"I do not think that we have a table open for you."

"I have a reservation." The maître d sneered again at Doyle.

"I doubt that very much." Cordy crept closer to Doyle and he saw that she was uncomfortable. Damn, no wonder she always turned him down. People treated him like a bum. She whispered something in his ear.

"Do you know what you're doing?" Doyle turned to Delia and smiled at her.

"Tá." Doyle turned back to the annoying man in charge of reservations.

"What name would the reservation be under?"

"Doyle." The man stared straight at them and spoke.

"There doesn't seem to be any Doyle on the register. I suggest you leave." His tone brought out Delia's inner Queen C. She stared him down with a regal eye and spoke in a superior tone.  
"What are you talking about? You didn't even look at the book you pathetic excuse for a man. I want to see your manger."

A young blonde woman with bouncing curls came up to them she was wearing a head hostess uniform. She looked at Doyle and Cordelia and then looked at the maître d. Then she sighed.

"What are you doing now, Louie?"

"This couple claim to have a reservation." The blonde turned towards Doyle and asked for the name of the reservation.

"Doyle." Her eyes lit up with recognition.

"They have a reservation, I booked it myself. That's the third time this week Louie. I'm reporting you."

"Janice, you can't mean that." Cordy turned to Doyle with a look that said, 'They're ignoring us.'

"You're driving away business. I'm sorry for the frustration. I'm sure that the _**rest**_ of the staff will be courteous to you." She then showed them to the table that she had reserved for him. Janice was ogling Doyle a bit but she noticed how his eyes didn't leave the young lady's face.


End file.
